Dragons defeat
Warriors at WIN Stadium

St George-Illawarra made amends for their loss to the Melbourne Storm in Round 12, and in the process managed to stop the Warriors two match win streak. They defeated the Warriors 32-18 after leading 18-12 at half time.

In a match in which the Warriors never in front, the Dragons shot out to an 18-0 lead after only 20 minutes with a questionable try to winger Wes Naiqama. The try was awarded by the video referee after it was ruled there was no double movement.

Mark Gasnier scored the try of the match as he stepped through two poor tackles and sprinted down the sideline, before he turned infield and wrong-footed Brent Webb to score under the posts.

After 20 minutes New South Wales five-eighth Trent Barrett broke through two weak tackles after Naiqama stripped the ball off Francis Meli.

The Warriors got on the board in one of their first forays into the Dragons end with a try to winger Manu Vautvei. Stacey Jones added the conversion from the touchline.

Two minutes later it was 18-10 as Todd Byrne snatched an intercept and raced 80 metres to score. Jones added a penalty goal just before the break to reduce the deficit to six.

The Dragons had the early pressure in the second half, but scored the first try of the second period from deep in their own territory as Head linked up with Cooper who ran 80 metres to score.

The Warriors then went on a period of sustained attack, but could only come up with one try, to prop Iafeta Paleaaesina.

The Dragons scored two late tries - one to Michael Ennis who backed up a Hornby bust, and Colin Best who gathered a chip into the in-goal with under three minutes to go to seal the 32-18 win, giving the merged club their 7th win of the year. Overall, it was a sloppy performance from both teams, but the Dragons managed to do more than the Warriors.

The Dragons Micheal Ennis was put on report for lifting, while Sione Faumuina was placed on report for a high tackle on Trent Barrett.

HALF TIME: The Warriors have recovered well from trailing 18-0 to have pulled possession even, and only trail by six despite being totally dominated. The Warriors have done well to trail by six, the heads have not gone down like they would have last year.

40 min: The second half kicks off. If the Warriors want to win, they have to score first.

42 min: The Dragons putting a lot of pressure on the Warriors kickers.